The Irish standard., 1887-01-15
THE LITERARY MARKET.
No Demand in the East o.: West
for Short Stories.

Discourag ging News for Aspiring Young
Novelists-Women hIonopolizing Fic-
tion 1T the Present Tin>e--sala-
ries of Noted Story-writers.
IN. Y. Worldl
"No Stories Wanted" reads the large.
red-lettered sign at the entrance to the
publication Office Of leading New York
story paper. On the plastering above are
the following words traced in pencil:
"Whoever goes up this winding stair shall
ne'er come down &gain." Besides these
discouragers the whole region about the
entrance wears an extremely uninviting
appearance as though the purpose were to
deter aspirants for "continued story +"
fame from entering. To the reporter, who
inquired if these precautions had tho de-
sired effect, the manager of the concern
said. YEARLY: "Not altogether; that sign,
protects US in some degree from city peo~
ple although some Of them disregard it;
but against mail invasion We have NO
means Of defense. My assistants and
are the hardest worked men in New, York.
Our chief duty is to repack aud return tha
heaps of manuscript we receive daily, and
assure you that it is q work Of no little mag.
nitude. Dozens OF stories of varied length
come to us every day by mail or express.
They come to US from every section of the
country and from persons in nearly every
condition of life. OF course it is impossible
to examine all of the manuscripts, but we
must return them with polite notes, any
how. Why return themf We'll, il We did
not, tho circulation of the paper would
drop sff in no time, because all tho would
be contributors are subscribers, and IL VIC
you suppose We could continue business?
Every reader nowadays considers himself
capable Of writing novel if he once puts
his mind to it. have no doubt that there
Is not toiersbly educated man or woman
in New York to-day who does not firmly
Believe that he or she could make . good
living by the pen were Che necessity TO
arise 1t sosms that most Of those who
send US stories are OF that class-peopls
who have been reduced in circumstances
and take to writing in order to increase
their meager incomes
"Bnt these are not the only ones who
shower their favors on us. Stories come in
from young men and women who care
nothing for financial recompense. They
write just to see their names in print and
to be abba to show off their productions to
friends School girls are our especial per-
,ecutors Nota week passes that we do not
receive work of fiction from some fem
inine boarding-school, with delicately
scented note informing US that the author
has determined to allow us to publish her
first work, and that compensation is no OBJ
ject
500 you read any OF this manuscripts re-
ceived?"
Very seldom. We're we in nced of mat
ter TO fill up space we would probably
examine the more promising of the works
submitted, but every story paper has its
regular staff of WRITER'S VINO contribute all
the matter that is wanted. These writers
have been selected from the men and
women who had already made regulations
by publishing successful stories. We can
not afford to give space to new people OF
whom our readers have never beard. 1t is
true that occasionally We accept brief
poems and one-column articles of interest
from unknown writer's, but most Of those
would-be authors are above such trivial
work They are satisfied with nothing loss
than a twenty-week serial"
care not nearly all contributors woun-
en!"
eyes. Women are monopolizing fiction
at present, not only liz the story papers,
but in published books RS we'll. This is es.
pecially the case in England, where fully
nine tenth of the popular novel-writers are
sc \: 81 hoI1 1r
men are taking to the graver branches OF
literature as becomes their character,
and are leaving the lighter vein for 5he
delicate handling Of the other sex-just as
they do in the physica! work of life. Any
how, the fact remains that the masculine
novelist is fast descending to the stratum
Of extinct animals"
"What salaries are paid to your regular
contributors"
THAT depends entirely upon the degree
of their popularity Although weekly
story papers ara considered inferior from
literary poiut of view, venture to say
that they have paid better than tho high
est magazine published. OF course you
have heard of Henry Ward Beecher's Nor
wood For this story, which was of no,
considerable length, tho Ledger gave
him 500, ,OO0-the largest amount ever
paid by any paper or magazine for
similar work, The Ledger also paid
Fanny Fern an enormous price for
her writings. She was engaged to
write several columns q week at 500
a column james Parton, Rov. John Hall
and others received almost equal pay for
their contributions. Mrs. E. D. E. N.
6outhworth the most noted living writer
for story papers, receives $4,000 a year
from the Ledger, and has light work, too.
She keeps story running throughout the
year, but she is SO prolifit with the pen that
she could fill half the Ledger weekly with.
out Over-exertion.
s'Of the other story writers OF the day,
che best paid are Mrs. Alexander McVeigh
Miller, who receives $1,000 year from the
Family Story Poper, besides the roy yalties
from her published books. and Mrs. Emma
Garrison Jones, whose $4,000 q. year is
fair salary indeed. Mrs. Jones Is our most
imaginative writer. The scenes OF her
stories are invariably laid in New York,
London or Paris and the accuracy of he1
descriptions is remarkable when we rememr
Der that she has never been north Of Ma
con aud Dixon's line. She lives in Staf'